Thinking big, supporting families and enabling coping: The value of social work in-patient and family centered health care

Craig, S. L., & Betancourt, I., & Muskat, B. (2015). Thinking big, supporting families and enabling coping: The value of social work in-patient and family centered health care. Social Work in Health Care, 54(5), 422–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2015.1017074


Highlights

Background

Patient and family-centered care (PFCC) has become a critical focus in health services, and social work has a rich history of providing responsive patient care.

Study Description

  • This study identified the contribution and value of social work to PFCC from the key stakeholder perspectives of health social workers (n = 65) in Canadian urban centres

  • Ages ranged from 22 to 65 (Mage = 43.0, SDage = 14.02); most identified as Caucasian (75%), female (87%), and heterosexual (91%)

Key findings

Social Workers impact Patient and Family Centered Care in four key ways:

(1) Thinking big and holistically

(2) Intervening with families

(3) Enabling patient and family coping

(4) Maximizing hospital and community resources

Barriers included:

a. Lack of power

b. Professional isolation from other social workers

c. Role creep (blurred boundaries between professional roles in health care)

Implications for research include efforts toward greater role clarity, evidencing the benefits enacted by health social workers (HSW), and a focus on service products (what HSWs do) in addition to professional identity (who HSWs are).

Clinical implications recommend HSW to more clearly define, articulate, and evaluate the important psychosocial interventions they provide and how they influence PFCC.

HSW should be clear that their work provides a personalized approach to health care, because of their high level of engagement with patients and families and extensive communication with the members of the interprofessional team.

 

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